Pope Francis' historic visit to Iraq, despite the dangers of the coronavirus and concerns for his safety, is part of his ongoing efforts to bring about peace and reconciliation between Christianity and Islam.
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Christians in the Middle East and their holy sites have been targeted by Islamic State and Shiite militias for years, and the pontiff aims to protect them through dialogue with pragmatic Islamic religious leaders. He met, among others, with Shiite Muslim cleric the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
The highlight of the visit was the interfaith prayer service that took place in the ancient city of Ur, where the Biblical patriarch Abraham is believed to have been born.
According to the Vatican, Jews were invited to attend the ceremony as well, but photos of the event show that no Jewish representatives did. The Iraqi coverage of the event did not mention the Jews either, which comes across as an attempt to deliberately disguise their existence and the crucial role they have played in Iraq's history.
The lack of inclusion is a missed opportunity, especially against the backdrop of the Abraham Accords, which placed the normalization of ties with Israel on the Muslim and Arab agenda.
Many Iraqis themselves were displeased by the government's disregard of Jews and expressed criticism on social media.
Omar Mohammed, an Iraqi historian who is chronicling Jewish history in the city of Mosul in northern Iraq, called on the Pope to pressure the Iraqi government to recognize and protect the non-Muslim Iraqi heritage, including the part Jews played in it.
The picture is incomplete if Iraq's Jewish history is not recognized, he said in an interview with The Algemeiner news website.
Iraq is choosing to erase the history of its Jewish community, which began with the Babylonian exile after the destruction of the First Temple in the 6th century BCE, not only historically but also physically. It destroys Jewish cemeteries and turns Jewish heritage sites into mosques, as happened with the tombs of Prophet Ezekiel and Ezra the Scribe.
Nevertheless, Jews of Iraqi descent, myself included, and Iraqis have been developing ties in recent years and are building bridges of peace. It is these sentiments that Iraqi officials should be adhering to, not the Iran-backed Shiite militia whose hatred-filled narrative will never let the Pope's message of reconciliation and peace take root in the region.
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